Summer Reading List
Here I am talking about listicles and what a time suck they are, but because I like to contradict myself I’m sharing my summer reading list. I’ve always kept a running list of books I want to read or should read, but this summer it’s going to happen.
I know I’ll get through the list and then some because I’ve decided to have a summer reading competition with my friend. Whoever reads the most number of pages this summer wins a nice bottle of something. Everything ends up being more fun when there’s a little competition and alcohol involved, right?
At the moment he’s reading Infinite Jest, but good luck with that. My strategy is genius: Reading, and then reading more. I look forward to sipping on sweet victory and arguing about which book was better with my friend come August.
1. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath There’s nothing like diving into a deep spiral of depression and insanity.
2. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand I figure I should at least say I’ve read one thing from Ayn Rand. This one seems the most interesting and I’ve heard good things from friends.
3. Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never read this book, so this summer it’s getting checked off my list.
4. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemmingway This has been on my list forever! It’s coming off this summer.
5. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson Perfect for those crazy summer nights.
6. The Shining, Stephen King To be honest I’ve already started reading this so I’m not sure if it counts in our competition. I had to put it down because it started creeping me out, and I need to be able to sleep this semester.
7. Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut I’ve never read Kurt Vonnegut. There, I’ve said it.
8. The Color Purple, Alice Walker I’ve seen the movie and never read the book. Womp, womp.
9. Still Alice, Lisa Genova A friend is reading this right now and couldn’t put it down, so it’s on the list.
10. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn Haven’t seen the movie, haven’t read the book, but everyone is freaking out about it so I’ll give it a shot.
11. Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger A recommendation from my competitor. We’ll see how it turns out.
12. On the Road, Jack Kerouac Will I be snapping my fingers and playing the bongos after this? I guess I’ll find out.
13. Delta of Venus, Anais Nin I mentioned I’ve read so much about Anais Nin and read excerpts of her work, but never in its entirety.
14. Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity, David Lynch
15. Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon The two above are to hopefully inspire me to create something. Whatever it is I’m not sure.
16. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury I was deprived as a high school English student. We were never made to read this book. My brother has read it and my brother is not a reader, so there’s that.
17. House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski I started reading this in a bookstore and couldn’t put it down. Unfortunately when I saw the price tag I had to, but this summer I plan to invest. I want to win this thing.
18. In Search of Adam, Caroline Smalles I stumbled across this online in an article that talked about writing from a child’s perspective. It seems tragic and horrible, just my type.















